English priest Hugh Latimer, on his ordination…
1554 CE
English priest Hugh Latimer, on his ordination in 1522, had initially opposed to Reformation ideas, but had altered his opinions under the influence of the Cambridge reformer Thomas Bilney.
Latimer's position had improved with his defense of King Henry VIII's divorce and the crown’s subsequent break with Rome, following which Latimer in 1535 had been appointed bishop of Worcester.
At the insistence of Thomas Cromwell, he had on May 22, 1538, preached the final sermon before Franciscan Friar John Forest was burnt at the stake, in a fire said to have been fueled partly by a Welsh image of Saint Derfel.
He had opposed Henry VIII's Six Articles in 1539, with the result that he had been forced to resign his bishopric and was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London (where he was again in 1546).
Restored to favor as the English church moved in a more Protestant direction during the reign of Henry's son Edward VI, Latimer had become court preacher.
He has served from 1550 as chaplain to Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk.